Leeds man who kicked and hit dog given 10-year animal ban

Ace was underweight when he was seized by the RSPCA in May

A man caught on CCTV kicking, striking and dragging his puppy by the neck has been banned from keeping animals for 10 years.

Christopher Silverthorne, 21, was seen abusing the eight-month-old dog, Ace, in the garden of a house in Swarcliffe Drive, Leeds.

Silverthorne, now of Tarnside Drive, in Seacroft, Leeds, admitted two offences under the Animal Welfare Act.

The RSPCA said the puppy was doing well and would be rehomed.

Magistrates in Kirklees were told CCTV footage taken on 25 March captured Silverthorne walking up the garden path before kicking the puppy, a white and brindle Boxer-type dog, on his right hind leg and striking him on the chest with his hand.

He then grabbed the side of Ace's face and tipped over his water bowl, forcing the puppy to drink from the floor.

Two further videos taken on 19 April showed him dragging the puppy by the neck and hitting him twice on the side of the face.

RSPCA inspector Adam Dickinson, accompanied by the police, visited the defendant at his home on 20 May and seized the dog and took him to a vet.

"Whilst waiting, he drank continuously for one minute and 27 seconds and whenever I made any sudden moves, he would react in a nervous manner and distance himself from me," he said in a statement to the court.

"Following his clinical examination, he then drank continuously for a further one minute 41 seconds, clearing two bowls of remaining water."

The RSPCA said Ace was doing well and would now be rehomed

A vet who viewed the CCTV said Silverthorne had inflicted harm on the puppy at least six times by striking, kicking and dragging him upwards by the neck, while failing to support his weight.

In her statement, she said there was "no reasonable" explanation for Silverthorne's behaviour towards the dog.

"The owner caused unnecessary suffering on multiple accounts by inflicting pain on Ace."

She added that while Ace would have suffered "momentarily" during the incidents the "emotional impact may have a life-long impact".

The vet said pictures of the puppy also showed his visible ribs and two areas of hair loss and said any reasonable owner would have taken him to a vet.

Silverthorne said he was remorseful and admitted he should have treated the puppy better at the hearing last week.

Ace was signed over by the defendant in October and will now be rehomed, the RSPCA said.